Polarization has a very strong tribal component to it. Once you get into the "us vs them" mindset you become the member of the "tribe" purely based on the label

Polarization has a very strong tribal component to it. Once you get into the "us vs them" mindset you become the member of the "tribe" purely based on the labels instead of "reality". At some point in time the label can have a strong correlation with the actual reality,then the label becomes more important than what it actually represents. Politicians exploit this constantly, "us vs them" is what unites their respective camps and promotes loyalty.